Composition Tips.

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If you have ever found your compositions to lack excitement, or you just want to have more control over how the painting affects the viewer, this video will help.

In this video, we will take a look at a painting that I did and study the composition.

Use these tips to make your paintings more engaging. In other words, you will learn how to draw in your viewers and lead their eye around the painting. You don't want them to just look at it and then move on. You want them to become engrossed in the painting. This technique will also keep them coming back to look at it again and again.

Here is the video:

How to put this to work for you:

Learning about how to make your composition exciting is very important in painting. In fact, composition is one of the most important skills you can learn.

You want to draw in your viewers and lead their eye where you want it to go. If you don't know how to do this, then you are not in control. You will have no control of what people look at where theirs eyes are lead. They might be lead right off the page.

So, study the video and look at the paintings in the gallery. See how I use these techniques to lead you around the image.

Here are some quick tips:

• Any area that "stands out" will get your attention. For example, a light area on a dark surface.
• Any area with great detail will get your attention. You can use detail selectively.
• Any area with brighter colors will get you attention. A person wearing a red jacked will stand out over a person with a brown jacket.
• Larger objects become more important.
• Areas of high contrast will get your attention. This could be contrast of warm and cool color or of dark and light values.

Think about how the painting is leading the viewers eye through the painting by studying the shapes, angles, planes, colors, values, and anything else in the picture that you notice.

With a little practice, you will be much better at creating an engaging composition that draws in your viewers and makes them want to come back to the painting again and again.

Congratulations, you have completed this lesson and have taken one more step toward becoming a successful artist. Now is the time to practice what you have learned so it becomes natural. Soon, this will all become easier and more fun.

Follow up:

In my complete art course, I have even more video you can watch about composition. I break down the composition of old master paintings and show you how they lead the viewer's eye through the painting. I also examine some more of my own works.

With a good grasp of composition, you can lead the viewer's eye where you want it, make the painting more exciting, and make what would otherwise be a forgettable painting into something people will want to come back to.

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